Chicken Grill Recipe: 

Today’s recipe is a very simple one, but executing it could be challenging. Or at least that is how I am perceiving the recipe. Because making sure that the meat is not dry or bland is not something you could properly learn from just the recipe. Especially since chicken breasts are lean, they can be difficult to grill.

You do not need a grill for this recipe. The pictures and videos of the chicken you see were cooked, or “grilled” on a gas stove with a frying pan. Grills are not something you would find in every Bangladeshi household, so the recipe was not even attempted with a grill. So how the dish would taste if you follow our recipe and use a grill is something I cannot say for sure. But if any of you do dare to try our recipe with a grill, please let us know. We would love to know how it turns out, and maybe even get some pointers from you.

Grills are uncommon in Bangladesh but not completely unavailable. Some families own charcoal grills or sometimes they make makeshift charcoal grills. Though you will be hard pushed to find a family that actually makes Chicken Grill with that grill. Most families keep the grill packed for the entire year except December and January. These two wintery months are when urban Bangladesh, especially Dhaka, gears up to have barbeque parties. That’s right, the household grills are almost exclusively used for barbecuing, rather than grilling.

Most of you probably already know the difference between a barbeque chicken and a grilled chicken. But I did not, so I looked it up. On my cursory search, I could not find if there is any difference in the cooker of both processes. If they do require different types of cookers, please enlighten me.

The main difference between barbecuing and grilling is in the time taken to cook. Barbecuing is done slowly, the marinated meat is infused with a smokey flavor over a long time. While grilling is done quickly. The marinated meat is grilled over a fire, with little oil. So grilled meat ends up with a crispy, charred texture.

I already mentioned that Bangladeshi families don’t grill chicken at home. So you might be wondering, have Bangladeshi people even tasted actual grilled chicken or is it always made in gas stoves? Well we have! While households prefer to make chicken grill in stoves, most restaurants stick with the proper instruments and use a grill, gas or charcoal.

Today’s recipe is a very simple one, but executing it could be challenging. Or at least that is how I am perceiving the recipe. Because making sure that the meat is not dry or bland is not something you could properly learn from just the recipe. Especially since chicken breasts are lean, they can be difficult to grill.

The first, and most important, thing you have to do to make sure you have a juicy and flavorful chicken grill is marinate the chicken properly. Best if you leave the chicken to marinate overnight or for at least 6 hours. Make thin cuts on the meat so the marination enters properly. If you are using boneless chicken, pounding the meat to an ½ inch thickness will help with marination.

You can make today’s recipe with pieced chicken, like we have, or with a whole chicken. Grilling a whole chicken comes with its unique challenges, but nothing even a wannabe cook could not handle. The same principle applies, the meat needs to be flavorful and juicy. So before marination make cuts in the meat. The cuts should go till the bone to ensure proper marination. And tie up the legs of the chicken. This will make the chicken easier to control during grilling.

Now during the grilling process on a gas stove, you should cover up the frying pan. But be sure to check in after a while to make sure the grilling is being done evenly.

Chicken grill is best enjoyed with some kind of sauce. Or maybe some chutney! For that I would highly recommend our Tomator Tok/Tomato chutney  recipe.